Is SD-WAN right for your business?

The software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is a technology for configuring and implementing an enterprise WAN — based on software-defined networking (SDN) — to effectively route traffic to remote locations such as branch offices. SD-WAN technology derives significant flexibility and agility benefits from removing the burden of traffic management from physical devices and transferring it to software.

The top SD-WAN benefits are:

• Increased bandwidth at a lower cost

• Centralized management across branch networks

• Full visibility into the network

• Provides enterprises with more options for connection type and vendor selection when building their networks.

Connecting SD-WAN Technology

SD-WAN technology implementation varies from vendor to vendor, but a primary feature of SD-WAN is that it lets customers create a single network infrastructure that includes many connection types, such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), broadband, or wireless LTE. Customers can take advantage of this technology to rely less on expensive, private MPLS connections and use cheaper, public connections for less sensitive data. SD-WAN technology also lets businesses switch transports, the cable or wireless infrastructure connecting the branch office and data centers,and mix and match them based on bandwidth availability, and quickly and easily spin up new connections to remote locations.

SD-WAN benefits businesses by removing expensive routing hardware and instead provisioning connectivity and services from the cloud.

It also has the benefit of increased flexibility, allowing businesses to scale connectivity up and down for peak-and-valley demand. SD-WAN technology, therefore, can improve a business’s connectivity between branch locations, the main office, and the cloud. This flexibility also means that businesses can avoid over provisioning, further lowering overall WAN expenses.

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